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Education Today – Term 4 2014

They’re a clever lot at Christians Schools Australia (CSA) national association of independent Christian schools, clever enough to realise that one of

the movement’s greatest resources is in the intelligence of its membership.

So when CSA affiliated Hillcrest Christian College on the Gold Coast started saying nice things about Instructure’s Canvas learning management system (LMS) after independently undertaking a comparison and appraisal process of their existing LMS against the Canvas product, it began to shape up as a solution that could be rolled out across the entire CSA network.

Canvas presents teachers with a powerful way of managing their practice. It is able to help in creating, organising and streamlining lessons, recording footage, hosting conference meetings, assisting in marking and student data capture and gives its users access to a plethora of educational apps.

If it sounds confusing, it really isn’t, Instructure have been pointed about creating an LMS which is as seamless and intuitive as possible, the idea is that it doesn’t need to be learned, you know how to use it; drag and drop with easy integration of content from familiar sources like YouTube and Wordpress.

“Teachers are notoriously slow adopters, if they are to make use of it, an LMS needs to get out of the way to some degree and the Canvas product does that.

“There are a vast number of short instructional videos available online (they average about two minutes duration), that means it’s not a case of constantly having to bring in the IT manager to make things work,” the CEO of Christian Schools Australia Stephen O’Doherty says.

Hillcrest College has become the proving ground for the Canvas LMS, the school has been hosting information days and fielding questions from other CSA schools with that role

developing as more schools adopt the product in line with their renewal and purchasing cycle.

As much as anything, CSA seeks to open the lines of communication between its members, encouraging the sharing of resources and experiences toward providing a standardised education to all pupils attending schools within the movement.

It’s also a fact that Australians are highly mobile and the provision of continuity in a student’s education as they move around the country is something that CSA prioritises.

Mr O’Doherty explains; “We are big fans of the Australian curriculum, we see the common framework as an ideal opportunity to draw on the expertise throughout the entire national membership base.

Toward customising the Canvas LMS to CSA’s situation, Mr O’Doherty visited Canvas’ headquarters in Salt Lake City.

“The engineers were ready to engage with us in customising the LMS, they were very willing

Christian Schools Australia adopts Canvas LMSET Staff

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EducationTODAY

Term 1 2013 Vol 13 (1)

The school principals' magazine

What's New • Teaching • Buildings & Grounds • Education ICT • Time Management

?

Creating change in one generationThe Third Teacher: from classrooms to learning ecologies2012 CEFPI winners Victoria

BYOD/BYOT?NGV’s Top Arts a resource for students

The green imperative: why we should rethink where our students learn

EducationTODAYThe school

principals' magazine

Term 2 2013 Vol 13 (2) Glen ClanceyCan I keep it?synthetic polymer paint, synthetic polymer medium and fibre-tipped pen on canvas353.5 x 227.2 cmFrankston High School, Frankston

42

Education Today – Term 2 2013

By the time its season ends, some 200,000 people will have visited the 2013 Top Arts exhibition at the NGV at Melbourne’s Federation Square which, for 19 years now, has showcased the best work produced during the previous year’s VCE Art and

Studio Arts program.The exhibition is one of the gallery’s best attended year round and

it’s been an excellent launching point for some promising talents and an annual reminder of the depth of our young artistic ability.

Judging is exhaustive, a short list of 200 is whittled down from 3000 plus entrants before the 43 final exhibitors are settled on. Those selected for the exhibition this year are representative of the best work and a reflection of the broader profile of artwork entered.

Gina Panebianco, the NGV’s Head of Education says that the type of art seen mirrors the changing, increasingly digital environment.

“We’re seeing less of the traditional fine arts such as ceramics and oil painting. Entries these days are more likely to be video, photography and digital ink-jet prints, multimedia and installations,” Panebianco says.

Work is selected on effective execution, communication of ideas and the breadth and depth of the student’s developmental work.

“The selection panel looks at what the student is saying and whether the work conveys that message, what the student is trying to do and whether that goal has been met. We look for work that has fulfilled the study design and also is innovative and stretches boundaries.”

Given its members’ calibre, the panel’s final decision is authoritative, it brings together state reviewers, educators, the NGV’s Curator of Australian Art and Coordinator of NGV Studio, David Hurlston and Gina Panebianco.

One of the panel’s favourites this year is the huge spray painted work Amulet by Oliver Reade who is the latest in a long line of precocious talents to be uncovered by Top Arts. The work featuring Reade’s teddy bear Rus is a tribute to the street art the artist encountered every day in inner city Collingwood and Fitzroy.

Amulet has seen Reade, still to complete his year 12 studies at Collingwood College, attract international attention, selling pieces in New

NGV’s Top Arts a resource for studentsJeremy Minnis

Lucy Simpson, Inside of a heart 1 oil on canvas (a-b) 155.0 x 137.0 cm (overall), St Leonards College, Brighton East

Madison Griffiths, Self portrait graphite, fibre-tipped pen, found objects, wood pegs, plastic cord 169.0 x 294.0 59.0 cm (variable) (installation), Haileybury Girls College, Keysborough

arts

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Education Today – Term 3 2013

teaching

As a parent of two children at an independent secondary school, the decision to send a child on a non-compulsory overseas camp

is not taken lightly. But when my daughter brought home details of an optional school trip to Green Camp at Green School in Bali, I was intrigued by the concept. Awarded as the 2012 Greenest School on Earth by the United States Green Building Council, Green School’s vision is “of a natural, holistic, student-centered learning environment that empowers and inspires our students to be creative, innovative, green leaders” (Green School, 2013). The planets aligned for my Year 9 daughter when I discovered that Green School’s Primary Art Teacher was going to be at the Adobe Education Leadership Forum in Thailand that I was also attending. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore this unique educational setting from two very different perspectives.

It was the Green School philosophy that attracted Stacey Allen to join its teaching staff. “The school’s mission statement is strong and potent,” she explains. “It’s hands-on to motivate kids about their environment.” As an Australian with a residence in Bali, Allen has been impressed by the community and traditions in the region, but mostly by how the culture has withstood the forces of tourism and westernisation. “The people have a lovely attitude, being welcoming, while maintaining what they believe.”

Prior to her engagement at Green School, Allen worked across primary, secondary and

tertiary sectors at home and in the UK, and was most recently with the NSW Department of Education and Communities’ Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre. The focus of her role there was on creating online visual arts resources, and managing WeCreate, a series of digital challenges that encourage students to design and create digital works using innovation and imagination.

While the underlying pedagogical thrust of her work at the Department of Education and Green School are not dissimilar – both emphasise a student-centred approach that draws on creativity – the physical environment at Green School is a far cry from an Australian city. Conceived and constructed by international design-build team Ibuku, Green School is made from bamboo and features open walls and doors surrounded by lush vegetation, or as Allen puts it, “things that can be used.”

The boundaries between the school and the environment are blurred, a metaphor, Allen explains, for the approach to learning at Green School. The methodology is summed up well by the curriculum statement on Green School’s website: “The difference at Green School is that academics come wrapped in rich layers of experiential, environmental, and entrepreneurial learning and the creative arts. In the process we hope to create more authentic motivations for learning, and at the same time expand our students’ sense of global citizenship and environmental responsibility while exposing them to different possibilities for

how we live and grow as a fragile planet” (Green School, 2013).

The clientele of Green School is an interesting mix. Allen notes that the student population has a certain level of transience. Around 20 per cent of enrolments are from local Balinese families, while the rest of the students come from all around the world, making it a truly international institution. Teachers are careful to focus on each lesson and what students get out of it to maximise the learning experiences of students as they come and go.

At a time when many are questioning traditional notions of schooling, Green School is putting into practice the ideals of its founders, husband and wife team John and Cynthia Hardy. It’s a context, Allen says, that allows for students to “do and create in an effective way”. Primary classes, for example, often have themes that Allen then integrates into her art lessons. She also works with classes when needed outside their designated art times to support projects such as a recently completed Year 1 Magic Code Machine. Allen neatly juxtaposes this perspective with her experiences of the NSW education system where for many Year 6 students, for instance, the emphasis is on preparation for selective school entrance examinations. Parents of Green School students are generally more concerned with the growth and development of their children.

The school is also a member of Round Square, a world-wide association with, “a strong commitment, beyond academic excellence,

It’s so easy being GreenAnnie Facchinetti

Education Today – Term 3 2013 27

to personal development and responsibility” (Round Square, 2012). Round Square schools subscribe to six IDEALS of learning: Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service, qualities with which my daughter Lelaina (Laney for short) is familiar through her own school, the Plenty campus of Ivanhoe Grammar in Melbourne’s outer northeast.

During her seven-day stay at Green Camp, a separate but affiliated part of the Green School site, Laney believes the 14 Year 9 and 10 students she travelled with were given a taste of all the Round Square IDEALS in action, particularly that of Environment. As the name

implies, Green Camp has a strong emphasis on developing environmental responsibility. According to the guide for schools, “Our objective is not simply to teach students about the environment, but to transform their point of view so they start thinking of themselves as a part of the environment. In a world where young people have increasingly limited opportunities to truly engage with nature, these experiences can have a lasting impact on students’ attitudes and behaviours” (Green Camp, 2013).

In order to facilitate this, the packing handbook given to students includes a strict “What Not to Bring (and why!)” section that explains, “Green Camp believes that everyone

needs to unplug once in a while. Leaving the outside world where it belongs (outside) and tuning into our natural surroundings and each other is what we’re about. Join us and you’ll know what we’re talking about!” Laney says that this rule was harder for some than for others. “I was personally OK with it. Those who are so used to talking on Facebook all the time got very excited whenever we saw a free Wi-Fi sign.” What she did find challenging was not being able to Google things, especially when it came to communicating with the locals. This forced the travellers to use their initiative, relying heavily on hand gestures to get their point across.

The notions of Leadership, Service and

“Leaving the outside world where it belongs (outside) and tuning into our natural surroundings and each other is what we’re about”

CEFPI Award Winners 2013

It's so easy being greenAre we where yet ? Explore the world from your classroom with GeoguessrMake staff integrate tech into their

pedagogy through effective PD

EducationTODAYThe school

principals' magazine

Term 3 2013 Vol 13 (3)

26

Education Today – Term 4 2014 Education Today – Term 4 2014 27

international

Starting at a new school can be daunting for any child, but when the school is also in a different country, the transition can be an

even more difficult prospect. The logistics of effectively settling in students from a variety of backgrounds is just one of the unique challenges faced by schools catering to expatriates such as the Australian International School in Singapore.

Established in 1993 with 32 students, the Australian International School (AIS) Singapore now boasts almost 2600 students representing about 55 nationalities. Of these, approximately 67 per cent are Australian, with New Zealanders making up a further 12 per cent. But while the figures do tell part of the story, it is only by visiting the school that you get the full picture of the joys and trials of being an integral part of the education of an expatriate community.

The campus is surprisingly large for a country where real estate is at such a premium, with multi-story buildings carefully organised around playgrounds and sporting areas. The configuration of the school is, however, as acting principal Andre Casson observes, a bit like his home state of Western Australia: “North-south it’s very long, but east-west it’s not very wide.”

The physical size of the school, coupled with the large student population, are issues that AIS staff are very conscious of, and a number of programs and initiatives have been put in place to support students to make a smooth start at the school. Casson explains that statistically there is about a 20 per cent turnover of students in international schools. “But there are certain parts of the school where that transition is less apparent. For instance there’s nowhere near 20 per cent going from Year 11 to 12. We’re almost 100 per cent retention at that level.”

To combat the transience of the population, buddy systems are used at different points. For example, Claire Ettinger the school’s Communications Manager, whose own children are in elementary classes there, explains that each new child coming into a class will be matched with a buddy. “In elementary they hold off placing the kids in classes until they’ve met the families and they work out OK – so Fred is a real keen soccer player, well there’s three classes he could go into but in that class Bob is brilliant and we’ll pair them up together.” Although in the long term students may not always bond to become best friends with their allocated buddy,

From Australia to AsiaAnnie Facchinetti

Ettinger says they always remember who helped them when they first arrived. The fact that most of the children at the school have had the experience of being the newcomer gives them a instinctive sense of empathy when new students arrive, but training is given to buddies to ensure that they can capably fulfil their role.

Year 12 students are also buddied up with a student from the pre-school area. This not only helps to settle the younger students into the school but as Casson suggests, “I’m sure the big kids probably get more out of it than the little ones. They just adore it.” The interaction with pre-schoolers gives Year 12 students a welcome break from the seriousness of their studies and provides a chance to de-stress.

Pre-schoolers are further supported as they face the transition to elementary school. In second semester, each pre-school group buddies up with a prep class, spends time working in the prep area, and starts having lunch outside where the preps eat so starting elementary school becomes a natural extension of what the students were doing the year before. Casson is very confident that the school manages this aspect of schooling well. “I think this is

probably the best school I’ve ever worked at for transitioning kids in, because we’re very good at having kids come and go,” he says.

While many schools in Australia may do some or all of these things, AIS faces the additional challenge of needing to support parents and families as they get used to living in a new country as well. “In an expatriate setting, we almost become a community to ourselves. You know, you can go to Melbourne and Sydney and you can find Chinatown. What’s Chinatown? It’s where Chinese people can get together and they can immerse themselves in Chinese culture, talk Chinese and get the stuff that they know and love. We are almost like Australia town,” Casson asserts.

To facilitate this, the school has an admissions team who help prospective parents navigate the labyrinth of decisions that are associated with relocating overseas. Ettinger explains that members of the admissions team provide

advice on issues such as finding an area to live in that balances the students’ needs with those of the parents, a process that’s helped along by the fact that most of the team, not to mention the teaching staff, have been in the same boat themselves, so to speak.

A number of Australian traditions and events are honoured throughout the year, including ANZAC Day. For the second time this year, Australia Day was also celebrated. “At the beginning of the year we have a big Australia Day barbecue that’s run from here and we partner with the Australia New Zealand Association and the High Commissioner comes down,” Ettinger says. Although, of course, it’s not a public holiday in Singapore, over 3000 people attended this year’s event, which was held in the first week of school.

But with attendees from so many different backgrounds, other measures are required to make sure that all students are in a position to take full advantage of the education on offer. Three different levels of support are provided to students for whom English is not their first language. The first is the Partial Mainstream Course (PMC), which is available from Year 6 to 9. Students who arrive with very little English are placed in small groups of about seven or eight for the bulk of their classes, but integrated with other children from their year level for Art, PE and Music. “Then as the students are able to start to access the curriculum more effectively, they’ll go into EAL [English as an Additional Language], where they’ll do all their subjects with their regular teachers, but instead of doing English as a first language, they’ll do EAL,” Casson explains. From there, students receive support in the form of an extra EAL lesson in lieu of attending a Language Other Than English class.

Mother tongue classes are also offered in Korean and Mandarin. “The reason we’ve got the Mandarin and the Korean is because we have that critical mass of students that makes it justifiable… we’re close to having enough Japanese students to allow us to have a mother tongue Japanese class but we’re not quite there yet,” says Casson.

Maintaining a contemporary and engaging curriculum is clearly a priority for AIS. Last year

Mother tongue classes are also offered in Korean and

Mandarin

Acting principal Andre Casson

A special music program with Richard Gill

Education Today – Term 4 2014 37

to talk about our ideas and responsive to our requirements. The process was very impressive and reflects their focus on a continual improvement of the product.”

Australian Canvas Open Education Evangelist Julian Ridden explains that listening to customers and incorporating their feedback into the Canvas product has been company’s MO and at the core of its success since its very beginnings as the brain child of two grad students. Speaking to people and refining the product accordingly has resulted in a comprehensive, powerful though user-friendly platform.

“The interfaces are intuitive, which what teachers want. As an example, the timetabling feature has been very well received, to change an item is a case of merely dragging and dropping, notifications about the change are updated across the system immediately, a process that might have taken multiple clicks and multiple windows can be achieved instantly. We started to get an idea we were onto something after a crowd at a trade show started to clap and cheer after we demonstrated this function,” he says.

The rise of Instructure and Canvas has been meteoric, it has only been around since 2011 and has since won customers beginning

Less technology integration...More curriculum enhancement.

Teacher Professional DevelopmentiSupport Learning are pioneers in the world of education technology. We provide workshops introducing and progessing the implementation of the iPad and Apple Mac.

www.iSupport.com.auDoug Loader 0433 230 743

in the tertiary space, with K–12 and corporate applications fast bringing up the rear, largely based on recommendations from peers.

Young is good in tech and as such Canvas is native to the cloud and has been built according to open learning tool integration platform (LTI) specs so there’s no back engineering or bolting on. LTI is a relatively recent development that as the name suggests enables material from multiple sources and file formats to be brought into Canvas.

Canvas runs on a multi-tenant, native cloud architecture, which by the end of 2014 will be hosted in Australia on industry-leading Amazon Web Services, with a 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee.

Assignments can be brought to life with direct links to Flicr Creative Commons, videos can be recorded for teacher feedback and vice versa,

“Canvas has very much taken off via word of

mouth, nowhere as much as in Australia, it was

they who initially showed an interest in us”

assignments in Word are easily pulled in and highlighted and annotated and the list goes on, with new features and additional apps coming online regularly.

Instructure’s Director of International Marketing Matt McGhie says that “Using products like Canvas is leading to changes in the way education is being delivered, the concept of the flipped classroom where students say watch a video at home and are then able to use class time to discuss the what they’ve seen is a natural fit for Canvas.

“We haven’t done a lot of research into Canvas’ effect on student outcomes, but tracking of student performance and updating student records is instant or a matter of a ticking or crossing gesture across a profile. The metrics are live and easily accessed which makes for simple monitoring of students’ progress. Most of the feedback we’ve received so far has been from teachers who love using the product.

“Canvas has very much taken off via word of mouth, nowhere as much as in Australia, it was they who initially showed an interest in us, but that said we have jumped into the market with both feet, some of our best people will be relocating here,” McGhie says.

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